This ISP forum will take place from November 28 to December 2nd 2016, on Flinders Island in Australia. This 5 day Isolated Power Systems Connect technical event is organized by Hydro Tasmania and The University of Tasmania. IRENA will facilitate a session on ‘Planning the operation of grids in small island developing states’ and sponsor the participation of five engineers from power utilities of Member Countries from the Pacific Islands.
The issue of developing and providing power to small islands is an existential concern for these states. Island states are especially vulnerable to climate change particularly flooding from sea level rise. These states need energy to power things like pumps that evacuate water during storm surges, they also need energy to storm walls.
To show what can be done, Elon Musk just converted the island of American Samoa from diesel generators to renewable energy. Tesla and Solar City created a microgrid of solar energy panels and batteries on the island.
Flooding of island states has taken an economic toll and it has already created refugees with many more are expected in the years to come.
Click here to see the full event description and agenda (PDF).
